Principal Value ETF

Principal Value ETF (PY) is an actively managed fund that uses a quantitative model to pick stocks from the S&P 500 Value Index. It favors companies that return cash to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, and it held 98 stocks as of June 30, 2026. Its 0.15% expense ratio is below the 0.19% peer average but well above index funds such as SPYV at 0.04%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, PY returned +13.8%, 8th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +9.1% and its 10-year +11.5%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 44.9% and regained its old high 8.1 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2018 (-13.3%); its best was 2021 (+34.8%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 45.4% (Jan 17, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020), recovered by Dec 4, 2020.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 98 securities; the ten largest made up 27.43% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $12.6M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +4.68%, +1.80%, -1.40%.

PY does not track an index. Its manager, Principal Global Investors (PGI), must keep at least 80% of net assets in value companies. The prospectus defines these as stocks that fall within the size range of the S&P 500, which ran from $5.7 billion to $5.5 trillion as of September 30, 2026, and that are also in the S&P 500 Value Index.

Within that group, PGI's in-house quantitative model looks for high shareholder yield, meaning how much cash a company hands back through dividends and share buybacks. It also scores quality, such as profitability, and momentum, meaning recent share-price trends. The prospectus does not spell out how positions are weighted. As of June 30, 2026, Apple was the largest holding at 8.1%, followed by Amazon at 3.2%, Walmart at 2.4% and Bank of America at 2.2%. The top 10 made up 27.4% of the fund.

The portfolio is rebalanced at least once a year, and PGI can change the model or the holdings whenever it chooses. Turnover was 95.4%, so the fund trades heavily. Trading costs are not included in the expense ratio. PY is a plain stock ETF and held no derivatives as of June 30, 2026. The main mechanical risk is the model itself: it depends on historical data, which can be wrong or stop working.

• PY charges 0.15% a year, versus an average of 0.19% for the similar funds below (5th of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $15 in the first year and $192 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

PY adds a model-driven tilt toward value stocks that return cash to shareholders, which can sit alongside a broad US stock fund rather than replace one.

PY launched in 2016, so it has no 2008 record. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 44.9% between February 20 and March 23, 2020, and it took about eight months, until November 25, 2020, to get back to its peak. In the 2022 bear market it dropped 17.7% and took 14.5 months to recover, until December 14, 2023, even though it lost only 4.92% for calendar 2022. Its worst calendar year was 2018, at -12.51%. Anyone who had to sell shares near those lows would have locked in deep losses. Income is modest. The trailing 12-month yield was 1.67% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. Under the SEC's standard $10,000 example, costs come to $15 after one year and $192 after 10 years. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.